Write a Letter to Santa and Help Wish Kids!

Between November 7 – December 24, visit your local Macy’s store or Macy’s Believe online to submit your child’s letter to Santa and help make dreams come true for Make-A-Wish kids around the country. For every letter received through December 24, Macy’s will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish (up to $1,000,000).

Jack LOVES the idea of Santa. In prior years he has written Santa several letters, made him cards, even even built a shrine in his room. At eight years old, it seems that he might be starting to waiver in his devotion and questioning a bit more, but still – he wrote a letter to Santa this year, asking for a haunted house and asking that Santa respond if he got the message. He included his very own “return receipt,” which was a drawing of some toys and dashed lines to indicate where to cut.

Santa dutifully responded and Jack was beyond excited. He just knows Santa will come through for him.

David and I set to work looking for a toy haunted house. We didn’t find much, but we didn’t want Jack to feel let down by Santa, especially on the last year he’s likely to believe in him. So we bought a dollhouse and developed a plan to paint it, sand it, and turn it into something haunted. I was also able to find a “monster bucket” on (post-Halloween) sale so that should help us haunt the place up.

This may seem like a lot of effort, but Santa is just one small thing that adds magic to Jack’s life amid all the hardship he endures due to Leukemia. Make-a-Wish helped in this effort this summer, as well, when Jack was granted his wish for a TARDIS bedroom makeover. Jack is still delighted by his room and with the granting of his wish, we saw a happiness in him that we haven’t seen in a long time.

He’s in love.

This holiday season Macy’s is helping to bring magic to more kids with their Believe Campaign by working with the Make-a-Wish Foundation! This year marks the seventh year of Macy’s Believe campaign, which invites believers of all ages to drop off letters to Santa at any Macy’s store by depositing them in special, designated Santa Mail letterboxes. You may also submit your letter online at Macys.com/believe.

For each letter received by December 24th, Macy’s will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish, up to $1 million, to grant the wishes of children (like Jack!) with life-threatening medical conditions. Last year, Make-A-Wish granted the wishes of more than 14,000 children across the United States. A wish is granted every 38 minutes!

Here in the Bay Area, Make-A-Wish is working on granting the wish of 4-year-old Joysse, a girl from San Mateo who was diagnosed with Leukemia. For her one true wish, Joysse asked for a princess party complete with purple and pink decorations, a princess dress with a cape and crown, cake and ice cream and more! She is so excited that she asks her mom, Gabriela, about it every day. Her party is scheduled for January, but as a surprise, Macy’s will be helping her prepare for her wish with a very special celebration at the San Francisco Union Square location.

To help kids like Jack and Joysse this year, make a trip to Macy’s or visit them online to submit your child’s letter to Santa. It’s totally free for you and yet you will get the satisfaction of knowing you’ve helped bring some magic back to the life of a child with a life-threatening illness!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.